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Kua whakawhiwhia e ngā whānau o Ōhinemutu ki tētehi āwhinatanga i te Kāwanatanga. Ko te pūtake he whakatika i te whakamahana o ngā whare ki te ahi tipua e koropupū ana i te poho o Tukutahi.
Tērā tētehi kāhui hāpori e karangangia nei ko Te Manatōpū Hau Kāinga o Ōhinemutu nā rātou tētehi tono ki te pūtea ā Motu, Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund. Me te whāinga nui he titiro ki ngā hangarau o te ao nei hai āwhinatanga, he titiro ki tētehi wāhanga whakaahua me te titiro pūtea whānui hai kawe i te hau tipua ki ngā kāinga kotahi rau e noho nei i te poho o te pā taunaha.
Ko Ōhinemutu te tāone tūturu o Rotorua. Ko ngā uri o te hunga nānā nei i tākohangia atu tētehi whenua nui hai whenua kura, hai pāka me ngā whenua rāhui e mana ai te tāone nei, kai te pā taunaha tonu e noho ana.
E ai ki a Aleisha Mitchell tētehi o ngā tangata noho ki te pā taunaha, hoki te pikitūranga o te kaupapa whakahirahira nei, ka whakamāhia ngā whakakitenga o te mātai aronga hai whakakaha i tā rātou tono pūtea whakaū i te rauna tono pūtea a MBIE a tērā rauna.
"He ahakoa e koropupū kau ana ngā waiariki i te pā taunaha o Ōhinemutu, nā te ture me te nama whakanonoi i ngā pou kawe wai wera, te manaaki i ngā paipa kawe wai wera me ētehi atu taumahatanga te pūtake e noho noa ana ngā whakatupuranga e rua ki runga kē i te mana o ngā waiariki, me te whakamomori kau i tā rātou korenga ki te utuutu i o rātou tinana ki ngā waiora" Hai tā Lani.
"Nā tēnei whakamomotu i ngā waiariki e noho tōraro ana te wairua o ngā whānau, e noho toimaha ana te ahurea o ngā kāinga, e noho itiiiti nei ā pūtea ana ngā tangata waihoki e māuiui ana te hāpori".
Hai tā Ms Mitchell e noho ārai kore ana ā pakitara whare nei te nuinga o ngā kāinga i tō mātou papakāinga .
"Ki te angitu ai te tono, ko te mana he nui. Ka kotahi noa iho te utu ka mana whakaharahara ai te pā taunaha katoa ki te whakahaere i ngā waiariki, kore utu ana, ko tātou tonu ka noho Māori nei i tēnei rautau e rua tekau mā tahi, e ora kaha ake ai mo ngā ngāhurutanga e whia kē rānei mō ngā whakatupuranga rau noa atu".
He mea nanao noa atu ai e ngā whānau e noho herehere ana i te korenga,i te itinga o te pūtea ki te utu i te hiko ." Ko tētehi anō o ngā mahi rangatira ka hua ai i tēnei kaupapa whakaharahara ko te whakauruuru o te tangata whenua me ō rātou waiariki me te whakarauora o te mātauranga Māori pēnei me te noho tahi me ngā ngāwhā hai wai kaukau, hai kōhua kai, hai whakamahana kai hoki".
E ai ki te pou whakahaere ki a Lani Kereopa ko te whakahaeretanga o tēnei kaupapa e whakaheke iho ai te utu mō te pūngao mō ngā whānau, ka pēnātia te utu ā hiko, kātahi ka tino hāngai tōtika ki ngā tohutohu a te komihana whakahuringa āhuarangi, e mea nei kia kaha tātou ki te whakaheke i te whakaputa pūngao ā whare.
"Nā tēnei kaupapa ka tupu ai te mōhiohio ā rohe, ā motu ki te utu ki ngā kame hangarau e tika ai te whakahaere, mātua ko ngā hua nui ka puta mai i te wai ariki a hauora nei, hai oranga tonutanga mō te hāpori engari kia tukuna tēnei pūngao hai āwhinatanga ki tētehi anō taumata o te motu".
"I tēnei wā tonu o ngā pōrarurarutanga katoa e pā kaha nei ki te manawa o te taiao e tika rawa atu ngā whakaaro itiiti nei me ngā whakaaro ā hāpori nei hai whakautu, waihoki kai te hāngai tika ki te rangatiratanga o te iwi".
Ōhinemutu whānau have received government support to look at restoring geothermal heating within the living Māori village.
Residents collective Te Manatōpū Hau Kāinga o Ōhinemutu successfully applied for the national Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to conduct a feasibility study to determine technological, design and cost options for providing thermal heating to just over 100 homes situated within the boundary of the traditional pā.
Ōhinemutu is the original township of Rotorua and descendants of those who gifted a majority of the lands, parks and reserves that make up the city we now enjoy, still reside in the pā today.
Village resident and project co-lead Aleisha Mitchell says the group will use the findings of the study to apply for implementation financing in the next MBIE funding round.
"While ample hot water and steam exists within Ōhinemutu, the prohibitive costs of maintaining bores, piping and infrastructure has resulted in two generations of our whānau living on top of heat, energy and healing waters they can no longer access," she says.
"This disconnection has had significant negative and long-lasting implications on the physical, spiritual, social, cultural and economic wellbeing of our people."
Aleisha says many of the papakāinga (family homes) in the village remain uninsulated and without access to appropriate forms of home heating.
"If successful, this initiative will mean a one-time expense, that will enable our community to utilise a free, traditional energy source in the 21st century sustainably for decades and potentially even generations."
She says it will provide access to reliable heating for families regularly struggling to meet the costs of consistent energy supply.
"It will also support reconnection of mana whenua with our geothermal taonga, and revitalization of mātauranga Māori relating to our traditional ways of utilising ngāwhā for heating, bathing and cooking," she says.
Co-coordinator Lani Kereopa says the project, if implemented, will greatly contribute to reduced energy costs for families and reduced electricity use in line with the Climate
Change Commission's recommendation that household energy use across Aotearoa be decreased.
"This initiative will also grow local, regional and national knowledge of the costs, technological needs, and benefits of utilizing geothermal resources for the collective health and wellbeing of communities, as well as the potential to deploy this type of energy solution at a larger scale."
"In this time of climate change, micro and community-based solutions such as what is proposed here, are more beneficial to, and in line with the energy security and sovereignty aspirations of iwi," she says.
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